Neil J. RubenkingKidsWatch Internet Safety & Parental ControlKidsWatch shares its ancestry with Webroot Parental Controls, but it has additional features like real-time alerts and IM monitoring. It suffers the same lame remote access feature and several of the same bugs as WPC.

Complete time scheduling for computer, Internet, and programs. Browser-independent content filtering. Records conversations using popular IM services. Real-time alerts and scheduled reports sent by e-mail.

KidsWatch shares its ancestry with Webroot Parental Controls, but it has additional features like real-time alerts and IM monitoring. It suffers the same lame remote access feature and several of the same bugs as WPC.

As Yogi Berra once said, it's like déjà vu all over again. If you've seen Webroot Parental Controls you'll surely think that KidsWatch Parental Computer Control is the same program. And you won't be far offthe two share a common ancestry. But the KidsWatch product has a few features WPC doesn't and is spared some (but not all) of WPC's problems.

Like WPC, KidsWatch associates parental-control settings with Windows user accounts. On installation, it creates a new account that you'll log into whenever you need to configure the program. From the user management panel, you configure the program for each user; it can even create new accounts and reset the password for existing accounts. Like WPC, KidsWatch can clone settings from an existing account to create a new one; unlike WPC, KidsWatch can also clone settings from one existing account to another.

For each user, you start by choosing a restriction-level profile. There are profiles for four predefined age ranges along with nonrestricted Adult and Administrator accounts. You can also choose Custom to start with no predefined settings. As with WPC, you must take care not to click a profile after the initial setup. Otherwise, KidsWatch will restore the default values and wipe out most of your changes.Next: Tighter Time Control

KidsWatch Internet Safety & Parental Control

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Bottom Line: KidsWatch shares its ancestry with Webroot Parental Controls, but it has additional features like real-time alerts and IM monitoring. It suffers the same lame remote access feature and several of the same bugs as WPC.

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About the Author

Neil Rubenking served as vice president and president of the San Francisco PC User Group for three years when the IBM PC was brand new. He was present at the formation of the Association of Shareware Professionals, and served on its board of directors. In 1986, PC Magazine brought Neil on board to handle the torrent of Turbo Pascal tips submitted b... See Full Bio

KidsWatch Internet Safety & Par...

KidsWatch Internet Safety & Parental Control

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